The present invention concerns the field of hierarchical messaging systems. More particularly, the present invention concerns a goal-directed asynchronous messaging system.
Work teams, families, and small social groups are the unit of society where the individuals actually interact, repeatedly encountering and engaging each other. In a work team, the needs of the individual interface with those of the organization. Accomplishing a task or goal may be the focus, but the experience of teamwork rests heavily with the interaction between the members, even if the membership frequently changes or if members rarely have face-to-face contact. Through interaction information is shared, decisions are made and communicated, and members meet social needs. Social interaction, as a fundamental process (as opposed to the socializing between friends) plays a major part of team life.
Goals and purpose are part of what continually motivate the individual and gives meaning to the task. They enhance member identity and sustain the individual""s commitment to something larger than self. The meaningfulness of the task to the individual is believed to have a significant impact on performance as well as the emotional life and interaction of group members. In this sense, goals and purpose are part of the sustaining structure of team social interactions. Work process, or how the work is done, is a blend of technology, materials, knowledge and interaction. Each individual part of the work process needs to be linked to overall group goals and purpose in order for it to be of meaning.
In traditional meetings, where all members are physically present, maintaining focus and bringing the discussion to an eventual conclusion is done by a moderator. More and more, however, computers are becoming the primary means for person-to-person communication, especially in business settings. Existing computer discussion systems are undirected and open-ended. They facilitate discussion, but do not encourage it to move in a particular direction.
The present invention provides a method for directing discussion in the form of electronic messages exchanged between the members of a team. The messages are arranged in a hierarchy having nodes and related sub-nodes that represent the messages. In one embodiment, a message requiring a response is represented by a node while the responses to that message are represented as its sub-nodes. A team leader assigns a node type to a node from a set of node types. Each type requires a different set of appropriate responses to the node.
In an embodiment, the node type is chosen based on the stage or mode of discussion that may take place as a project moves toward completion. Based on the assigned type, the method of the present invention directs member""s response to the message represented by the node by limiting the operations a member may perform in their response. For example, early on in a project discussion might be relatively open-ended such as in a brainstorming session. A node at this point in the discussion would allow numerous operations to be performed in response. As the discussion progresses, a list of feasible solutions may be established from which a member should choose without adding additional ideas. Such a node would require a member to select from the existing set of options without adding to the list.
The team leader changes the node type as the project progresses to a final decision stage. The present invention thereby assists the team leader in moderating discussion by limiting the responses of members to ones that are appropriate for the stage of the project.
In accordance with the present invention a method directs discussion in the form of electronic messages between members of a team. The method may be implemented in the form of program modules or computer-executable instructions stored on a computer readable medium.
The present invention provides a method of directing discussion in the form of electronic messages between members of a team as the discussion progresses toward a predetermined goal. The messages are arranged into a message hierarchy wherein related messages are represented by nodes and associated sub-nodes. A response framework is provided for responding to at least one of the messages represented by the nodes and associated sub-nodes. The framework includes recommended and/or discouraged response actions that are communicated to a team member responding to the node. The team leader can modify the response framework as the discussion progresses toward the predetermined goal.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a message requiring a response is represented by a node and the associated sub-nodes of the node represent response to the node. According to a feature of the present invention, the team leader assigns a node goal to the nodes and associated sub-nodes and the response framework is based on the assigned node goal. According to another feature of the invention, the leader also assigns a node type to the node, and this determines how the message represented by the node fits into the message hierarchy.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the response framework is communicated by a pop-up screen that indicates that a proposed response is not a recommended response action. The message hierarchy is displayed with a message including an indication of where in the hierarchy the message is located. According to a feature, bookmarks may be created that link a member to nodes that have been updated since the member last viewed the hierarchy. The response framework is made up of a set of appropriate types of responses to a message. The appropriate types of responses are set by the leader based on a stage of a discussion as it progresses from an initial stage to a final stage. In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention interfaces with external program timing systems to provide updates to the project timing or communicate timing goals to member.